This invention relates generally to food preparation equipment, and more specifically to food preparation equipment having communication capabilities.
By way of background, a variety of food preparation apparatus are available in which a product, such as a food concentrate or food base, is combined or otherwise mixed with water or another liquid. In this regard, most beverages, as well as other liquid food substances, such as soups, are not ready to drink and are prepared by mixing water, either hot or cold, with such a product. For example, there are numerous devices which combine powdered or liquid concentrate coffee products with water to produce a reconstituted or mixed coffee beverage having a desired flavor. Similarly, some fountain-type beverage devices may be capable of dispensing carbonated beverages, as well as juice or other non-carbonated beverages, by mixing a syrup or powdered beverage product with carbonated or non-carbonated water to produce a diluted or reconstituted beverage.
Beverage making equipment may be deployed by an equipment provider to end users in a variety of business models. By way of example, but not limitation, end users may be restaurants, convenience stores, hotels, motels, stadiums and other entertainment facilities, health care facilities, and other large institutional settings. The franchise model is one business model in which each store in a chain may use similar beverage making equipment, configured in a similar manner to provide for uniformity and quality control throughout the franchisee locations. Using the same beverage equipment through the locations may also provide for volume discounts for the franchise owner and its respective franchisees as well as simplifying training, documentation, and repair procedures. Although the franchise model is used as an example, there may be other business models that deploy equipment to multiple locations with similar efficiency and cost concerns.
One problem with such deployments is the possibility of end-user modifications to default, preferred, or globally mandated settings. End users, such as shop operators, or the equipment operator themselves, may adjust or modify settings for a variety of purposes, some of which may be legitimate and some which may not. For example, an end-user may reduce the amount of beverage powder that is dispensed per serving in order to reduce raw material costs. Such modification may diminish the quality of the product or otherwise vary the product from its intended characteristics. Other configuration or settings modifications may be due to operator error, equipment misuse, or unintentional reconfiguration. The preceding reasons for beverage equipment modifications are intended to be non-limiting examples; a host of other reasons for a modification are possible as well.
Briefly, in accordance with the foregoing, the present disclosure provides a system and method for monitoring and controlling modifications to a configuration, setting, or state of beverage equipment. The system includes at least one piece of beverage equipment which includes a controller. The controller communicates with a data collection system which may be accessible by a central office, equipment provider, or other interested party. A method is also disclosed for first monitoring or querying beverage equipment for modification. The modification may be compared against a modification threshold to determine whether the modification warrants a corrective action. A corrective action may include but is not limited to, resetting the equipment to original or default settings, notifying the end user, notifying the equipment providers, logging the action, or some combination these actions.
Additional features will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of drawings exemplifying the best mode as presently perceived.